Orkney Ringing Group

Home

The Orkney Ringing Group operates in Orkney. Most of our members are resident on mainland Orkney
with a few residing on other islands within the archipelago.

The fledgling years

The Orkney Ringing Group was formed in October 1980 when a small group of ringers met in a house in Finstown to
discuss how better co-operation could be achieved between the ringers resident in Orkney.

Initially the Group
members used their own rings, with a newsletter being produced detailing ringing totals, recoveries and ringing
sites used by the ringers. This changed in 1983 when the Group received a grant from Occidental Petroleum,
owners of the Flotta Oil Terminal, for seabird ringing. It was then decided that all rings used should be from a
communal ring stock issued to the Group. Shortly after this the Group became the first Scottish Ringing Group to become
a registered charity. This was done to enable the seabird ringing grant to be covenanted to the Group, thereby
allowing us to benefit from reclaiming the tax on it. Several other Scottish Ringing Groups have followed us in becoming
registered charities.

In 1985 one of the Group members received his cannon netting licence , which enabled the Group to start catching waders, with the emphasis being on open shore waders ( Purple Sandpipers and Turnstone).